Abomazong was a somewhat popular competitive deck in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. The deck was a favorite among some competitive players for its ability to spread damage quickly and make a big hit if need be. Although the deck had a good showing in the relatively small City Championships series of Premier Events, it performed poorly at larger events, when played.

Contents

History

Although the exact origin of the deck is unknown, the first well-known player to effectively use the deck was Jimmy Ballard of Illinois. A challenge to players to build a deck using Abomasnow appeared on the Banginboards, Ballard's invite-only TCG discussion forum, and the best combo was thought to be with Bronzong.

Strategy

Abomazong has a seemingly straightforward strategy, but in reality it is a deck with many options and often overlooked strategic advantages over other archetypes in its era.

The basic, solid strategy of Abomazong centers purely around spreading damage with Abomasnow's Snow Play attack and Bronzong's Pain Amplifier attack. Snow Play does 20 damage to the Defending Pokémon and 20 damage to each of the opponent's non- or - Pokémon, all for an Energy Cost of . Provided Abomazong is not facing a water- or grass-centric deck, this is a very powerful spread effect. The second key part of the assault is Bronzong's Pain Amplifier attack. Pain Amplifier is a free attack that places one damage counter on each of the opponent's Pokémon that already has damage counters on it. For no energy cost, this is a very strong follow up to Snow Play. Another reason Bronzong is used is for its Cursed AlloyPoké-Power. Cursed Alloy states that "As long as Bronzong is your Active Pokémon, put 1 damage counter on each of your opponent's Pokémon that has any Poké-Powers between turns." This simply piles on damage to Pokémon already ailing from Snow Play and Pain Amplifier, and it is helpful against most decks since Poké-Powers, such as those of Claydol and Uxie, are very popular for support.

Although the deck's basic strategy centers around Snow Play, Pain Amplifier, and Cursed Alloy, Abomazong is far more versatile than the average spread deck. It needs to be, since Snow Play is ineffective on - and -type Pokémon. And spreading damage is unproductive against decks using high-HP Pokémon. Abomazong has other ways of dealing with decks like these.

When facing a deck where its typical strategy is ineffectual, the focus of Abomazong shifts toward Abomasnow's Below Zero attack and Bronzong's Coating attack. Below Zero does 60 damage for and reads that "if Abomasnow evolved from Snover during this turn, the Defending Pokémon is now Paralyzed." 60 damage is decent alone, but the Paralyzation effect makes Below Zero a real threat in some situations. It can buy Abomazong one additional turn to set up, while stalling the opponent's strategy by denying them an attack. Bronzong's Coating attack does 60 damage for , and reduces damage done to Bronzong during the next turn by 20. This is great for stalling and doing decent damage at the same time.

Additional supporting component's to Abomazong's strategy, such as Claydol, are discussed in the "Cards" section.

Variable Tech Cards

These are cards that may or may not be in the deck build depending on the player's style:

Unown G - Some players may choose to use this card as a counter to decks that focus on placing damage counters, such as Dusknoir variants.

Restriction

While Abomazong's two main attackers, Abomasnow and Bronzong, were legal for Pokémon Organized Play on the 2010-2011 rotation, the deck's main source of drawpower, Claydol, was not. Although Abomazong could still be used with an alternative engine, the decline in spread decks has caused Abomazong to be essentially unplayable.